Soccer Team Plays Mental Games to Prepare for Indiana

The Cal State Fullerton men’s soccer team will be on the practice field at 6 a.m. today, and for the next two mornings, but no one will be complaining.

It’s part of the Titans’ new regimen this week to prepare for Sunday’s game in Bloomington, Ind., against top-ranked Indiana in the NCAA quarterfinals.

“It’s to help us get ready for the time change and the colder weather there,” said senior striker Eddie Soto, the goal-scoring star for a team that has become one of the final eight for the second consecutive year.

“We’re going to have to be a lot more mentally prepared than for the other games because it’s going to be colder and we’re going to be playing on their home field.”

Bloomington can be beautiful in September and October, when the sun is still warm and the forests that surround the small college town are alive with the shades of autumn. But by now the harsh Midwest winter is beginning to signal its arrival. Temperatures are falling into the 30s at night and the daytime highs are mostly in the 40s.

But, regardless of the weather, Indiana will be hungry for this rematch.

Fullerton and North Carolina are the only teams to beat the Hoosiers this season. The Titans won, 3-2, in overtime in the MetLife tournament at UCLA in late October, even though Fullerton was a man down in the late stages of the game because of injuries.

“We’ll be looking forward to playing them again, that’s for sure,” Soto said. “We really got at each other the last time. It was a good, exciting game, but their coach made some excuses after the game about it being foggy and dark and them having trouble seeing. I didn’t like that. Their players were pretty good about it, though, and their fans clapped for us when they presented us the trophy for winning the tournament.”

The biggest problem Soto faces this week is controlling the anxiety that began building as soon as he walked off the field after last Sunday’s second-round victory over San Francisco in sudden-death overtime. “I’m really pumped up, and we still have several days before we play,” Soto said.

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Fullerton Coach Al Mistri says the Hoosiers definitely are the strongest team the Titans have faced.

“They’re strong at every position,” Mistri said. “It’s one of those games that could go either way. We’ve been playing good ball lately, even though we’re still bothered by some nagging injuries.” The Titans are down to four reserves, and a couple of the regulars are at less than full strength.

The Hoosier scoring is well-balanced with five players who have seven or more goals. Brian Maisonneuve leads the team with 13 goals and seven assists. Todd Yeagley has 10 goals and 10 assists. Yeagley had the game-winning goal in Indiana’s 1-0 victory over Creighton last weekend.

Maisonneuve recently was chosen the Big Ten’s most valuable soccer player for the second consecutive year.

Most impressive, however, is the Indiana defense. The Hoosiers have allowed only 10 goals all season and three of them came in the loss to Fullerton. And they’ve done it with only 16 yellow yards, compared to 47 for their opponents.

The Hoosier goalkeeper, sophomore Scott Coufal, has 65 saves and a goals-against average of 0.46, best in the nation. He has shutouts in both playoff games and four of the last five games.

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Women’s basketball Coach Deborah Ayres is looking forward to her team’s next outing, on Thursday at Loyola Marymount, after what she felt was an encouraging start against Washington State last Friday.

The Titans lost, 75-73, but Ayres said she was pleased with the team’s effort.

“I thought we did a fine job for not having played a game,” she said. “We were able to play the full-court game with them even though they had more size, and I was encouraged by that. I definitely feel we’re in better condition this year.”

The Titans, however, weren’t able to move the ball inside to the post players as much as Ayres wants, and she is hoping for some improvement.

Titan Notes

This year marks Fullerton’s fourth appearance in the NCAA Division I soccer playoffs. The earlier appearances were in 1975 and 1986 before the Titans made it again last season. They played in the college division national championship game in 1973, losing to Missouri St. Louis, 3-0. . . . Mike Tran, who made the spectacular over-the-head scissor kick that set up Matt Bradbury’s game-deciding header goal Sunday, said he tried it in a big game before. “I tried one in the (Southern Section) finals in high school, but it hit the post and came out,” said Tran, who played for Walnut High and attended San Jose State before transferring to Fullerton. . . . Stephanie Cargill was named to the Big West all-freshman volleyball team. She led the team in hitting percentage at .266.